By Calvin Bruce
Working locum tenens is one way to acquire valuable clinical experience and sample
various practice options.
Choosing the right practice to join following residency is not always an easy decision.
A lot is at stake when you launch your career—chiefly, the reputation you acquire
among colleagues, the ability to build a practice, and your overall professional
development. Working locum tenens is an employment option that is often a smart
choice for young physicians beginning their careers. What is locum tenens? How can
it benefit new physicians finishing residency training?
Understand the concept
“Locum tenens” is Latin for “holding the place of.” Simply put, locum tenens doctors
work in place of practitioners who, for whatever reason, require substitute coverage.
The services of locum tenens physicians are valuable whenever regularly scheduled
doctors are absent due to sickness, family emergency, CME training, maternity leave,
sabbaticals, or military deployment. By employing locum tenens physicians, hospitals
and healthcare practices can maintain continuity of patient care, prevent lost revenues,
reduce the stress of an overworked staff, and more leisurely fill permanent hiring
requirements. Even medical facilities that use locum tenens providers sparingly
recognize the importance of having at their disposal an affordable staffing option
to rely on when necessary.
Who works locum tenens?
Locum tenens (LT) suits several types of practitioners. Physicians who are semi-retired
often work locum tenens in order to keep their clinical skills sharp, maintain their
state licensure, and enjoy a good part-time income without all the administrative
hassles of maintaining a full-time practice. As an LT provider, they choose where
and how often they want to work, in accordance with their life-style and personal
interests. Another category of locum tenens practitioners is doctors who moonlight
on occasion to earn more money while maintaining other employment. A good example:
Emergency Medicine physicians who pick up some additional shifts when they are not
regularly scheduled or when on vacation. Their locum tenens work in no way detracts
from their regular employment; so there is no problem in moonlighting from time
to time. A third group consists of “career locum tenens” doctors. Aptly described,
these practitioners regard locum tenens work as the mainstay of their income and
source of connection to the medical profession. This group includes, for example,
specialists who face exorbitant malpractice costs in maintaining their own practice.
Instead of leaving the profession, they regularly work locum tenens in order to
sustain a good income while allowing the locum tenens agencies representing them
to absorb the cost of malpractice insurance as an operating expense. Lastly, residents
completing their programs constitute another category of locum tenens providers.
Working locum tenens is particularly appealing to residents who want to travel,
gain firsthand experience in different clinical settings and management styles,
and test their market worth before signing a contract for a full-time position.
Accepting a lengthy temp-to-perm opportunity allows a resident to “test drive” a
practice before joining the group as a full-fledged practitioner.
The benefits of doing locum tenens
There are other benefits that accrue from working LT. Agency recruiters work hard
to keep dedicated locum tenens doctors actively employed. They carefully review
current and upcoming assignments to make the best match of skills and practice interests.
When a doctor is accepted for an assignment, the agency recruiters assist in timely
privileging at the facility, and in handling all the details associated with orientation
and starting the assignment on time. Such services include arranging travel and
lodging, and securing a Certificate of Insurance (COI) prior to the practitioner
starting work.
Another benefit of working locum tenens is knowing that recruitment experts are
looking out for the best interests of providers whom they represent. They can advise
them on matters related to current reference-checking, steer them to work assignments
that offer the most challenge, and alert them to exceptional temp-to-perm opportunities
down the road.
All in all, locum tenens recruiters serve a valuable purpose for career-minded physicians
anxious to explore a variety of practice opportunities.
How to stay marketable
Not all locum tenens physicians are equally marketable. Here are some tips for staying
as marketable as possible as a valuable LT provider:
- Keep your credentials updated. These
include current curriculum vita (CV), professional references, state licenses, certifications,
CME credits, DEA card, and other supporting documents. Having updated credentials
aids in the placement process and speeds up the privileging process once an LT booking
is made.
- Cooperate fully during the placement process.
Keep in mind, recruiters understand their clients’ hiring requirements and what
is involved in getting locum tenens providers started in their assignments on time.
Some employers require more information than others. For instance, obtaining privileges
for certain government assignments can be rather laborious, although equally fulfilling
as an alternate practice experience.
- Accept less “glamorous” assignments.
Some locum tenens assignments are in large cities at premier medical institutions;
others are at clinics in outlying areas. Locum tenens providers who are willing
to do any type of assignment—including the less desirable—will certainly be kept
in mind for the more exciting assignments that come along.
- Play the game by the rules. The
locum tenens industry is rather tightly knit, and recruiters at one agency often
know their counterparts at other agencies. They are all required to abide by certain
industry ethics and codes of conduct. One important rule is the standard two-year
non-compete clause in providers’ contracts. This means that when an LT agency places
a doctor with a certain client, for two years’ following, no other agency should
attempt to place the same doctor at that facility. Reputable agencies honor this
rule; firms that are not so ethically motivated might try to sidestep it. The best
advice for residents is to align themselves with recruiters who play the game by
the rules.
The most marketable physicians are contacted more frequently regarding employment
opportunities. They are the providers that recruiters can present to clients most
enthusiastically, and hence enjoy more practice opportunities.
All things considered, locum tenens offers new and experienced physicians the opportunity
to earn a good income while working in different practice settings and learning
new skills. Career-minded practitioners should certainly give locum tenens serious
consideration.